Heart of a Canary
by Royal Canary
Summary: Follow your heart...and you can never go wrong. R/R please.


I had known it from the very beginning. It had been one of those instant attractions...as if I were drawn to him, to the azure of his eyes, to the essence of everything that he was. The first time our eyes met, I felt a shiver up my spine, as if he had known long before I knew him...long before I knew myself. He saw deep into the very core of my being, into the depths of my soul. 

That first moment that I actually saw him a shiver had run up my spine, one so violent that I had felt Steiner come to my side and rest a hand on my shoulder, as if he had feared I had fallen ill. 

But of course, I was not ill at all. 

I had not moved standing there under the great Ifa Tree with my companions...I had simply watched him. Watched the way the breeze flowed through his hair, watched the elegant, confidant way he moved. I had learned more about him in those short moments than I had about the ones I traveled with in our many days together.

It was as if then that he wished me to hate him, to think ill of him. I could see his will to hurt me in his eyes. But he never harmed me, and I never swayed from his gaze.

The next time we met, I did not recognize him immediately. I had been too intent on discovering the truth of my mother's intentions to even realize that he was there with us. But when he had spoken, that shiver had run up my spine again, and I had felt myself drawn. Drawn to him, drawn to everything about him. It was as if I were under a spell. Under his spell.

There were more encounters between us...all brief, all involving the same mysterious drawn feeling that I had whenever he was near. I know that the others, mainly Freya, had grown to notice it more and more. But no one questioned me on it for the longest time. 

Late one night, after we had made our camp to rest, I had slipped away from the others into the secluded privacy of the forest, and there I had stared up at the sky and thought of him. I could do this for hours and not grow weary of it. I would become lost in my dreams, lost in the few precious memories of his presence that I held. 

"Out rather late, aren't you?"

I gave a start then, my thoughts shattered, and whirled in the direction of the voice. Amarant. Breathing a sigh of relief, I regarded the rogue thief with questioning in my eyes.

"I suppose." Amarant made a sound that could have been interperated as a snort and came to stand beside the tree in front of me. For a long while he was silent, and then he turned sharply, facing me fully.

"You can't hide it forever. I've figured it out, and most of the others have, too. I'm surprised Zidane hasn't...but then maybe he doesn't want to accept it. But I see it. It's too apparent whenever we run into him."

I felt my face flush crimson, and reflexively I ducked my head to try and conceal my feelings within the long raven curtain of my hair. But I had cut my hair off several days back, and so it was no longer there to shield me. I had forgotten this until now. 

Knowing there was no point in denying it any further, I stood and took a few steps in Amarant's direction, my eyes upwards on the skies.

"They would not understand," I whispered softly, my voice wavering a bit. "After all that has happened they would not understand how..."

Amarant cut me off sharply then, his voice harsh.

"To hell with them. Do you hear me? To hell with what they think! None of that matters. Can't you see that?"

I was startled, and I turned to face him, my eyes wide.

"But after everything..."

"It doesn't matter, Garnet! Can't you see that? All that matters in this world is what you want. If everyone spent their lives caring about everyone else's feelings and thoughts, then no one would ever get anywhere!" Amarant's voice was fierce, and I found myself shocked by the intensity of the emotion I heard there. It seemed rare for Amarant to care much about anything.

"So what should I do?" I asked softly, weakly, for in fact I myself had no idea what to do. Inwardly I had hoped that the feelings would depart, but instead with each passing day, each passing moment, they had only intensified.

"Only you have the answer to that. Garnet, you have to follow your heart. You have to make your own choice...do what you know is right. Never mind what anyone else thinks of it. Trust in yourself." 

Amarant turned then and took a few steps away from me, towards the camp. Pausing a moment, he called to me once more over his shoulder.

"Time is running out."

I knew what he meant. Nodding silently I turned away and stood, arms wrapped around my own waist, staring up at the sky. 

Dawn was approaching.

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"Dagger! Get down!"

I felt myself thrown to the ground, and for a long moment I could not move. Pressing my hands to my head, I heard the roar of the world around me. When I was finally able to raise my head, I saw the figure of Zidane leaping forward, blade flashing in an attack. My heart tore.

_No._

Slowly I drew my legs up beneath me, beginning to stand. My head pounded, and through the pulsating roar, I heard Amarant's voice.

_Follow your heart._

I knew at that moment what I had to do. My gaze moved to the vision of scarlet feathers hovering in the air, and I knew what I had to do. 

Slowly I stood upright, my eyes unwavering. I had one chance, and one chance only. It had to be timed precisely correct...if he figured out what I was doing he would certainly stop me.

It twisted my heart to see him weakening so from each attack, to see that lovely vision of crimson and angelic grace being destroyed slowly before my eyes. You will not have to suffer much longer, I thought silently. 

For a moment our eyes met then, and I wonder if somehow he heard my thoughts.

I heard Eiko cast a protection spell upon Zidane, and I knew then that my time had come. My muscles tensed, and I waited for the words that would signal my actions.

_"Grand Lethal!"_

I waited only a split second after the last syllable had been uttered. In that brief time I saw the shimmering flashes of light that were Zidane's final attack preparing to launch at his opponent. Racing at a speed I had never known I possessed, I ran from the back of the group to the very front and curled my legs beneath me.

In that moment those impossibly blue eyes turned towards me from the vision of scarlet in the sky. His expression was that of utter shock and disbelief. He did not understand. Time caught for that moment, and I willed him to somehow understand.

_Why are you doing this?_ I could read the question there in his eyes, see the curve of his lips in something near to contempt, but not quite.

At that moment I could not answer. There wasn't the time. I had only one brief moment, one small window of time if I were going to save him. Running faster, I leaped fully into the air, directly in front of the angel of death. 

Directly into the path of Zidane's Grand Lethal attack.

The pain was unlike any other I had experienced before. It was as if I were engulfed in fire, feeling the blaze from both above and below. It consumed me, every part of my being, until I was certain I could bear no more. Dimly from around me I could hear the startled cries of my friends, but I could do nothing to go to them. 

Then as quickly as it hit me, it stopped. Instead of being afire I was now cold, shivering fiercely. And falling. I was falling, and there was no way for me to stop my descent. I closed my eyes...

...And felt two strong arms catch me before I could hit the ground. I was drawn close and held delicately, tenderly. I was no longer falling, only floating downwards in the circle of those arms. Not opening my eyes, I rested my head against my rescuer's shoulder, and felt the brush of feathers there. He had caught me.

I felt him lay me down on the ground, and with much effort I opened my eyes. I could hear my friends racing towards us, but I knew they would not reach me in time.

He bent over me, brushing the hair from my face, his eyes wide, and I thought I caught the shimmering of tears there. 

_Why did you do it?!_ He asked me the silent question again, only this time with more alarm and fear. Now at last I could answer. I smiled softly and reached up, brushing the back of my hand along the side of his face. Even that slight effort exhausted me. He caught my hand in his then, and I held to that moment, savoring the feeling for as long as I could. Around me a shimmering light was growing, and I knew it would soon encompass me.

My eyelids grew heavy, and I knew my time was short. So I looked into his eyes fully and tightened my grip on his as much as I could manage. I wanted him to know what I felt, to know what I had been feeling all this time. What I would never stop feeling.

_"Because I love you."_

I said it with both mind and voice. I read the shock, pain, disbelief, and suppressed joy in his eyes.

And then the light reached me and I knew nothing more.


End file.
